This week we worked in aquaponics by tilling soil and cultivating the plants for two hours every morning. A lot of the lettuce, radish, and onion seeds that we planted a few weeks ago have grown faster than I had expected. I have loved being able to see the results of our work in aquaponics these past few weeks, and I look forward to continuing this work for the last two weeks of this internship.
I began teaching English to five new Tuloy students from Eastern Summer, Philippines this week (one hour per day). Although I do not know to what extent, their lives were affected by the devastating Typhoon Yolanda. These fourteen-year-old kids are so sweet and so eager to learn, which makes our English sessions a lot of fun. They were somewhat shy because they are new to Tuloy and obviously do not know me very well yet, but I am sure they will open up more these next two weeks. We began working on greetings, dorm vocabulary, and chores this week so that the children can begin to learn English that they will use here at Tuloy. Thankfully, they know basic English already and understand new vocabulary words with simple explanations in English. A lot of our sessions, however, involve drawing and/or acting out words or phrases so that they can better retain the information and have fun while learning. I'm excited to see their progress these next couple weeks!
In dance this week, I began teaching their choreography for their show on July 11. Each group has one contemporary and one jazz piece. They are SO excited to perform for their friends at Tuloy, which makes them learn the movement quickly. Here in the Philippines, though, timing and scheduling are very tentative and a lack of communication is very common. I have found that many of my dance students often come late because they don't know what time they are supposed to be in class and/or have other scheduled activities at the same time. This will definitely be challenging as I begin teaching choreography because the students who miss one section of choreography will have to learn that material quickly in order for me to continue teaching more. Even with this challenge, I can't wait to continue teaching these four pieces to these talented and passionate students.
We conducted our last two Self Discovery Workshops on Wednesday and Friday for Voc-Tech programs of computer technology and welding. Both groups were very interactive and fun to teach. Each Voc-Tech program had their teacher present at the workshop. One of the greatest parts of these workshops was getting to hear these teachers speak to the students after the workshop. They shared personal stories of their pasts and gave the students encouragement to keep pushing toward their goals. Some of these teachers had lived in poverty just like the kids at Tuloy, and the students were probably able to connect with these stories so much. I have loved conducting these six Self Discovery Workshops and watching the students become so motivated and excited to follow their dreams.
On Tuesday, the Philippines military came to Tuloy to present the Pinoy Batang Bayani (Filipino Young Hero) ceremony. In this ceremony, the Tuloy staff/students and the military honored and welcomed ten new students to Tuloy. The military had sponsored these children from the Manuvu tribe to come to Tuloy to complete their studies by flying them from their province to Manila in a military plane. The Manuvu tribe is one of the poorest tribes in the Philippines, and it was a great honor for the military to give ten of their children a chance for a better future. Principal Jojo described how the children who had never seen a sink before were amazed by how the water could flow out of the faucet when they turned the knob. These kids are being exposed to so many new experiences, and I can't wait to see how God uses their time at Tuloy to help them and the people of their tribe.
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